“I was the guy who had a perfectly secure future. I worked in public relations and advertising for my family’s company. I had a stable income, and I hated it. Sitting at my desk one day I realized this was not where I was meant to be. I quit and enrolled in culinary school. “I had a lot of time to think about my profession, and why I had decided to take this new path. When it boils down to it, it was my mother and grandmother. During all those family cook-outs, they always put so much love and passion into everything they made. You should have seen the joy they got from making others happy. Many chefs start out their careers at home under the guidance of their mothers or grandmothers, – you can’t underestimate the importance of that influence.”